UPDATE 6-HP pays $108 mln to settle foreign bribery probes

WARSAW/WASHINGTON April 9 (Reuters) - Hewlett-Packard
agreed to pay $108 million to resolve wide-ranging U.S.
government investigations into whether some of its foreign units
bribed government officials to obtain lucrative contracts, U.S.
officials said on Wednesday.

HP's Russia subsidiary pleaded guilty to paying millions of
dollars in bribes - some in the form of expensive watches and
swimming pool technology - to win business with the federal
prosecutor's office in Russia, the U.S. Justice Department said.

Polish and Mexican units of the computing giant also
resolved U.S. criminal charges related to contracts they had won
in those countries, and Polish prosecutors charged a local HP
executive with paying related bribes.

The Securities and Exchange Commission entered into a
related settlement with HP over allegations that its
subsidiaries made improper payments to government officials.

Both U.S. agencies charged the company or its units with
violating the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, a 1970s law that
bars U.S. linked firms from paying bribes to officials of
foreign governments.

"Hewlett-Packard subsidiaries created a slush fund for bribe
payments ... employed two sets of books to track bribe
recipients, and used anonymous email accounts and prepaid mobile
telephones to arrange covert meetings to hand over bags of
cash," Deputy Assistant Attorney General Bruce Swartz said in
announcing the settlement.

In a statement, HP executive vice president and general
counsel John Schultz said HP fully cooperated with the
investigation.
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